This puts the financial yield from the loan program in third place when compared to all corporations worldwide, behind only Exxon Mobil, which made $44.9 billion in 2012, and Apple Inc., which made $41.7 billion.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that student loan payments will provide the federal government with $175 billion in profit by 2023 if it aims to keep the subsidy rate at negative 20%. This would mean that the program takes in 20% more than it administers.

If the federal government wants to keep college affordable for the average citizen, then it should avoid policies that are complacent with the cost-ballooning strategies of many of today's top schools. The focus should instead be on keeping education costs in line with income so that a post-secondary degree is a practical investment, not one that will haunt you monetarily for rest of your life.

The federal government should be more concerned with the unemployment line than the bottom line.